Primary Features Overview

DreamHost has valuable features for their shared web hosting plans. Here is what you can expect when it comes to features:

• Free domain of your choice
• Unlimited disk space and bandwidth
• Unlimited domain hosting
• Unlimited email accounts
• Unlimited MySQL databases
• Custom DreamHost control panel
• 1 click application installation
• Variety of code languages including PHP5, Perl, Python, Ruby on Rails, and more
• Web-based email access
• Up to $100 in Google AdWords credit
• 24/7 customer support via phone and email
• 100% uptime guarantee
• 97 day money back guarantee

Having a 100% uptime guarantee is very risky in the web hosting industry. However, I’ve been with DreamHost for over 6 months and haven’t had a single downtime on my website. You also have a little over 3 months to test out their web hosting and if it doesn’t meet your needs, you are entitled to a refund.

Plans and Pricing

The good thing about DreamHost is that they have one plan that is good for any sized website. There is no need to worry about switching between plans as your website grows – their shared web hosting plan has unlimited features that withstands your growth potential. Their web hosting starts at $8.95 per month and entitles you to many unlimited features including bandwidth, storage, hosted domains, email accounts, and more. DreamHost always has special deal promotions of up to 50% off their regular web hosting. Best of all, your web hosting purchase includes a free domain of your choice.

If you are looking for more web hosting options and services, DreamHost provides the following:

• VPS hosting starting at $15 per month
• Dedicated hosting starting at $99 per month
• Free web hosting for non-for-profit agencies registered in the United States
• and domains starting at $12.95 per year

DreamHost Price (click to enlarge)

Control Panel Interface and Ease of Use

DreamHost has a web-based control panel which isn’t too bad. The immediate setup of your web hosting plan is done automatically without any effort from the user. Adding and editing templates to your website might get a bit confusing for beginners. If you take advantage of their support along with the guides they have, you should be fine. However, if you plan on hosting a WordPress site, it’s easily set up with one click.

Their custom control panel is nothing like the cPanel and lacks many features. However, once you get the hang of it, you should not have any problems.

Custom DreamHost Control Panel (click to enlarge)

Website Building and Design Tools

Here is a category where DreamHost lacks the tools other web hosting providers do not. With DreamHost, you actually have to have some kind of coding knowledge to develop a professional website. There are no free templates or any site builder that you can use to assist in the development of your site. All design has to be done using your own site building software.

However, we can not bash them too much here because they are perfect for blogs and include 1-click script installations.

Help and Support

It’s very hard to give a web hosting provider a perfect score in this category. DreamHost has a 24/7 customer support via phone and email. You can also upgrade to receive help and support via live chat. If you take advantage of their DreamHost Wiki and Forum, you will never need their actual human support, almost everything can be found using the wiki or the forum. Overall, the actual support team is very good in terms of helping you with your website.

Pros and Cons

✓Everything is unlimited including bandwidth, disk space, hosted domains, databases, and email accounts
✓1 click application installation
✓100% uptime guarantee
✓24/7 customer support
✓97 day money back guarantee
✗There is no site building or design tools
✗There are no site templates 
✗Clients have to upgrade to receive chat support

Summary

If you do not mind the fact that their web hosting can get a bit pricey, than this is the perfect hosting provider for almost any type of business. Most of the time users are looking for a web host for their blog. DreamHost servers are optimized for WordPress, so I would highly recommend this web host for bloggers and even businesses.

However, if you are looking to build a website on your own, beginners should stay away from this web host as there are not site builders in their platform. Experienced HTML designers or anyone with coding experience should be in good hands with DreamHost.